Oct 28
"On a sweltering Sunday last August, a peaceful mob of 35 local
farmers, armed with shovels, hoes and wheelbarrows, raided Serendip
Farm in Orange County.
But instead of a traditional raid, which is about taking, this raid
was about giving: The Crop Mob, as the group is known, spent five hours
cutting down starter crop, tilling beds, weeding and mulching—for free.
For the past year, the local Crop Mob, mostly landless, self-proclaimed
farmers, has spent one Sunday each month "raiding" a small farm that is
not theirs, working the land and planting and harvesting crops."
(Read the rest of the Indy's article on the Crop Mob here, or check out the Crop Mob Website)
Oct 02
A new study put out by Iowa State University's Leopold Center shows how increased local food production positively benefits local economies. Economist David Swenson found that "528 acres of production would yield 25 percent of 22 fresh fruits and
vegetables consumed annually for 100,000 people in the region" as well as finding "net farm and regional income gains of almost $1 million."
Find the full report here.
Oct 01
When I talk to people about buying local and organic the number one argument I come up against is cost – it costs more to buy local or to buy organic. Industrial agriculture proponents like to point out that conventional farming is a "cheaper" venture than traditional (read: sustainable) farming. They posit that growing one crop means you have a smaller number of variables to deal with (variety of pests, growing conditions for different crops, etc) as well as single known entity to concentrate on (corn for instance) that will provide a fairly certain profit (hence the idea of commodity crops). By growing only one thing you can focus on that one thing, grow big, and maximize profit.
Well I call bull on that argument. Let's say you inherit $500,000 from your grandmother. How do you invest that? Do you go out and buy $500,000 worth of Microsoft stock? Do you buy a $500,000 piece of property and wait for it to rise in value? As the saying goes, do you put all your eggs in one basket? Any investment adviser worth her weight will tell you that you need to diversify. What happens when all your money is tied up in the housing market and housing starts plummet?
That, my friends, is one of the basic principles behind sustainable (and smart) agriculture. By growing a variety of crops or raising a variety of livestock you are diversifying your investment – spreading the risk. That way, when an outbreak of late blight hits (as it did up and down the East coast this summer) you don't go broke when you lose your tomato crop. You still have squash, onions, beets, eggs, and pork.
Industrial agriculture necessitates a monoculture crop – an inherently risky investment. No amount of agricultural science and know-how can prevent crop decimation from a novel fungus or chemical-resistant pest. Sustainable (diversified) agriculture gives you some insurance. Barring a catastrophe you will have a crop to bring to market.
So when people ask you why go sustainable all you need to do is tell them that its the better investment, period.